A senior official at the German Institute Taipei disclosed that the German government is helping TSMC set up a manufacturing facility in Germany, as Bloomberg reported that the German government is in the final stage of negotiations with TSMC.
Dr. Jorg Polster, the director general of the German Institute Taipei, attended an awarding ceremony held by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan, where he said Germany and Taiwan have collaborative projects in semiconductors, EVs, and satellites, adding that the office will have a lot of things to do, including assisting TSMC in investing and building a factory in Germany, implying that TSMC may be making progressing in its wafer fab in Europe.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg quoted sources saying that the German government is looking to use funds worth EUR20 billion (US$22 billion) from the Climate and Transformation Fund to subsidize chip projects of Intel, TSMC, Infineon, and ZF/Wolfspeed. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the German government is in the final stage of negotiations with TSMC to invest in a plant in Dresden, and the government may offer up to EUR5 billion in subsidies to TSMC's estimated EUR10 billion investment.
Unnamed officials at the German Institute Taipei told DIGITIMES that they will be very busy in the coming months, promoting bilateral cooperation in education, technology, and economy. Technische Universitat Dresden signed with Taiwan-based National Taiwan University, Tsinghua University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology to promote academic exchanges, visits of scholars, talent training, and joint degrees.
German officials told DIGITIMES that they highly appreciate Taiwan's talents in semiconductors and hope to strengthen bilateral cooperation and exchanges. The Ministry of Education of Taiwan will promote exchanges in semiconductors between universities from Taiwan and Germany by establishing a working group to implement related projects.
According to data from the ministry, there are 554 MoUs of inter-institutional projects signed between Taiwan and Germany, focusing on mechanical engineering, business management, humanities, and social sciences.
Recepient of Germany's subsidies (EUR) | |||
Company | Location | Subsidy | Total Investment |
Intel | Magdeburg | 10 billion | 30 billion |
TSMC | Dresden | up to 5 billion | 10 billion (e) |
Infineon | Dresden | 1 billion | 5 billion |
ZF/Wolfspeed | Saarland | 750 million | 3 billion |
Source: Bloomberg, July 2023
